UK Bi Teen Beaten in Alleged Hate Crime

A British teenager, who identifies as bisexual, has come forward on social media to talk about about being attacked in what he believes was triggered by his sexual orientation, Gay Star News reports.

Richard Scott Kennedy, an 18-year-old theatre student, was by himself after a night out at Evoque nightclub in Preston, Lancashire, England, on Feb. 26 around 3:30 a.m. The teen said he was a group violently beat him because of his sexuality. The attackers allegedly stomped on his face, which caused his teeth to go into his gums.

"Here is my face after a homophobic attack, four of my teeth are gone, not fallen out but deep inside my gums and cheek, one is sitting under my cheek inside my gum on the right side bottom of my nose," he wrote. "My face is swollen and it was worse yesterday, both my knees are badly injured and I struggle to walk and my whole face is constantly throbbing and I’m now on four tablets a day for pain and infection and may require surgery to sort the damage."

He went on to say:

"All of this and what was their motive? because of my fucking sexuality. needless to say it’s absolutely disgraceful to violently attack someone because of who they are," Kennedy, a student at the University of Central Lancashire, wrote. "My confidence has gone, im utterly embarrassed to be seen in public, the only reason I am putting this picture up is because I want you to see me as an example."

"This was a nasty and seemingly unprovoked assault and we are investigating the possibility that this was a homophobic hate crime," a police spokesperson told Gay Star News. "We treat all incidents of this nature very seriously and a further statement is currently being obtained from the victim."

Kennedy made another Facebook post Friday, thanking people who have supported him.

"I just honestly want to say thank you, I am absolutely stunned that my story has been shared over 18,000 times, it means so much," he wrote. "From all of this, all I want is awareness, that we need to stop ignoring attacks like these, not only due to sexuality, due to race, ethnicity, religion and looks. No matter what, no one deserves to be attacked for being true to who they are or what they look like. Stop ignoring it. "